Cadet accused of sexually assaulting females at academy

Published 1:00 am, Friday, February 17, 2006

NEW LONDON (AP)- A senior cadet at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy has been charged with sexually assaulting six female classmates.

Webster M. Smith
, 22, of Houston, a linebacker on the academy's football team, was separated from the rest of student population after the first complaint was filed with administrators Dec. 4, the academy said.

Smith was charged Feb. 9 under military law with rape, assault, indecent assault and sodomy against female cadets, said Chief Warrant Officer David French, an academy spokesman.

The incidents allegedly occurred between May and November 2005, French said. Some allegedly happened on the academy grounds when Smith entered female cadets' rooms without permission. Others were reported off campus in Mystic, Clinton and Stonington. The rape allegedly occurred in June 2005 during a trip to Annapolis, French said.

The military equivalent of a civilian grand jury hearing was tentatively scheduled for March 15 to decide whether to court-martial Smith, French said. Such military hearing are typically open to the public, but the presiding military official could close it.

Smith could not be reached for comment Thursday. The academy does not publish a student directory. The cadet watch desk said only that he could not be reached. A message seeking comment from his attorney was left at the
Naval Legal Service Office
in Groton.

It was not clear if the alleged victims were under Smith's military command, although seniors have supervisory power over cadets in other grade levels. French would not release the women's class ranks.

Academy officials have encouraged women who believe they may be victims to come forward, French said.

"If they feel that they've been wronged, we want to make sure they get the treatment necessary," he said.

While separated from other cadets, Smith was not jailed and was allowed to return home for holiday leave. He returned to campus Tuesday and is assigned to work on academy grounds along the waterfront, an area other cadets are prohibited from entering, the academy said.

"He's no longer in the barracks and he does not actually stay at the campus at night," French said. "He's assigned a work area and just goes to that work area during the day and off campus at night."

Rape and assault carry the same definitions under military law as they do in civilian courts, according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. State prosecutors have inquired about the academy's investigation, French said.

French said there is no record of any previous court-martials at the academy, the smallest federal service academy, with 982 cadets, 286 of whom are female, French said. The academy first took women in 1976. Male and female cadets share dormitories but have separate rooms.

In 2004, nearly 150 women at the
Air Force Academy
in Colorado came forward with accusations that they had been sexually assaulted by fellow cadets between 1993 and 2003. Many alleged they were ignored or ostracized by commanders for speaking out. A
Pentagon
task force found that hostile attitudes and inappropriate treatment of women also persisted at the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point
and at the
Naval Academy
.